Battloid
by Lilypad125
Summary: This takes place in the future when humanity is overwhelmed by zombies. Due to the mutations of zombies and many failures, humans have turned to creating robots with human intelligence and extreme combat skills. They are called Battloids. Don't own anything but my imagination!
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: A lot of mistakes (I'll fix them later) and cursing.**

**Hi, this is my first Bleach fanfic. (: It's about the future and zombies (: Okay I came up with this idea from playing too much assassin's creed 3. There's the whole synchronization thingy except it's present time not in the past thing.**

* * *

"Your sacrifice won't be in vain."

That was what that man told me before they sealed me up and put me to eternal sleep. I dreamed and dreamed... But I couldn't open my eyes... I couldn't see reality...

Then after the dreaming...

"Wake up, Uliquiorra Cifer. You can't fail me now!"

"Sir, the synchronization rate is 84%."

"The power's going on full!"

Slowly but surely... I will awaken to the call of my people.

* * *

My name is Vincent Leon Davinci, in my youth I was a prodigy in science. I was a greedy and proud fool. Just like every other human... I thought of myself as nearly god but...

When the zombie plague took over the world... People became desperate, for once in history of mankind people put aside everything to build spaceships to save our race. For many decided to forsake Earth... At least until it was safe to return but...

There wasn't enough time... Or maybe we were weak... Limited by human constraints... But either way, the zombies came... Past our army, past our air force, past our navy, past our militia... Right in front of our sanctuary. Politicians, so-called world leaders, the rich and wealthy, and the old world 'valuable' people just boarded the space ships and left...

Left their people with broken and false promises...

But I wasn't in despair, it was my chance... I never intended to leave this planet of endless possibilities! While people reach for the stars I call forth the diamonds hidden deep within the crevices of my world. I saw this as a minor, unimportant, side detail. I knew they were cowards, running off to a distant planet in hopes of outrunning the disease.

Hmph, I applaud them for their simple and primitive ideas and hopes...

I managed to convince the remainders of our leaders to give me time and resources... I told them I would deliver the world to the humans. I, Vincent Leon Davinci, would return the world to them. At first they did not believe me, I told them I was not going to create mutants to take care of the zombies because that proved to failure. The virus just mutated to accommodated their new hosts.

Fools... I proposed to create battloids, androids that would fight for mankind.

They told me, it would take too long to train them but I laughed, no, it would only take a few weeks at minimum and a few years at max if all goes well. They told me they already had men in battle armor to fight the zombies but they always got overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

"That's a limited way of looking at things." I told them, "I do not intend to make men in robots, that is only wrapping a piece of meat and chucking it at dogs with no opposable thumbs."

I remembered leaning forward, sitting on the edge of my seat in excitement, in a quiet and careful voice, I said, "I intent to make androids controlled entirely by humans."

Of course with their limited and narrow minded views they thought I was just talking about remote controls or whatnot, as if I would waste my time and their time with idealistic drivel. Honestly! I told them I was going to create a way for a robot to completely be human. A mind of a human.

Surgically removing a human brain and transplanting it into a robot? They asked, I shook my head, no no no! That is too stupid. Zombies have mutated to have heightened senses they can smell a prey miles away, air tight or not they can still sense humans. Putting a brain into a metal contraption isn't going to change a thing!

I said, "I will create a chip to be implanted in host's brain that will help synchronize and bridge the gap between the human and robot. They will feel all that the robot can feel and see all that the robot can see. They will be the robots themselves!"

Of course those fools thought I meant remote control just in a more deeper level. Obviously not! As superior as a human mind is, it cannot control more than one body at a time! The senses would overload the mind and drive the person mad or paralyzed for awhile. No, I meant the human is put into a coma while battling as a Battloid. This was the closest mankind will ever achieve to immorality. As long as the body is not harmed or disturbed... They will live forever in a Battloid and retain eternal youth in both bodies.

Those fools agreed at first and pooled some money over but after a few months they tossed the ideas aside, in favor of other foolish and stupid devices that failed obviously!

It took me 50 years... 50 long years to convince those old crones to give my idea a chance, after series of failures and larger population of the undead... The fools came crawling back, full of smiles and promises.

When I finally got the consent, I immediately set out for the old lab. Sealed with steel and concrete... those fools wanted to make sure I didn't do anything without their permission! It took me a few days for those simpering assistants to open the door. And when they did I walked in...

My temple... My poor and ignored temple...

"Turn on the power generators to full power." I ordered, I didn't want anyone to see Uliquiorra... I wanted to see if Uliquiorra was still functioning, if not I wanted to keep my sorrow to myself...

As they ran off, my lab coat swept up clouds of dust, my face wrinkled in disgust. My temple nearly in ruins! As I punched in passwords with my aged fingers, my eyes darting around. The door slid open with a loud groan and within was my greatest creation... The one I put the most effort in...

"Uliquiorra..."

The Battloid was covered in layers of dust but still it kept its knelt position. Head bowed and arms resting by its sides. Behind it was its human host... Sleeping in a capsule, I walked over to the tube. And blew off the dust, my greatest creation to be neglected like this! Finally the green glowing liquid cold be seen and the host was fine. Its eyes still closed in slumber, the oxygen mask was still functioning and secure, countless little white air bubbles floating up as the host breathed and dreamed.

Wires and tubes along its spine, measuring different waves and feeding and caring for the disciple of my making. Then as the wires hummed to life, I turned back to the Battloid.

"Uliquiorra, do not fail me now!" I demanded, as engines began to roar to life, whirling and humming. Little red numbers beeped at me, "Synchronization level is 10%... 20%... 30%... 50%... 70%... 80%... 81%... 82%... 83%... 84%..."

The closed eyes suddenly flashed open. Relief coursed through my veins, "Welcome to the real world, Uliquiorra Cifer."

* * *

"You are to clear the infected and zombies in section D3." A robotic voice commanded, Uliquiorra nodded as he stood up. His joints cracking and popping. He had been waiting for orders since the dawn of yesterday.

Humans have banded together and created a capital of modern technology and called it a sanctuary. But outbreaks of the plague had put the people on the edge. There's been a steady rise of lock downs lately... There were special walls that locked off every block when there was code red in the area. But somehow sections have been overrun by zombies... Who have evolved rapidly.

In the beginning they could barely walk, now they can run and climb at alarming speeds but this was due to all the mutants that failed to protect humanity.

Uliquiorra tilted his head as he tried to get more signals, "Cifer, there is an optional objective: Rescue the mayor of Section D3 and his son. We have recently received a distress signal from him."

Uliquiorra cleared his throat and responded calmly, "I accept optional objective."

"Cifer, if you succeed you will receive a bonus of $50k." Uliquiorra nodded as he waited a little longer, "Here is the attachments and files you need."

On the corner of his sight a small box popped up calculating how long it would take to download the files. "10%... 50%... Completed, open Isshin Kurosaki files?"

Uliquiorra nodded silently.

"Isshin Kurosaki" A picture of a square jawed man with a slight stubble appeared,

"Gender: Male"

"Age: 35 years old"

"Blood type: AB"

"Birthday: December 10"

"Weight and Height: 176 lb and 186 cm"

"Wife: Masaki Kurosak decreased approximately 30 hours ago."

Uliquiorra blinked, that was around the time the section D3 got reports of infection. He hoped that there wasn't anymore of those unreasonable people demanding that he save their love ones when they're already dead and turned. He'd hate to deal with their emotions when he had to kill their love ones.

"Children:

Ichigo Kurosaki (Son)

Status: Still alive, last report 15 hours ago.

Yuzu Kurosaki (Daughter)

Status: Infected, last report 15 hours ago.

Karin Kurosaki (Daughter)

Status: Missing, unknown, last report 15 hours ago.

Priority:

Mr. Isshin Kurosaki (Bonus $50k)

Ichigo Kurosaki (Bonus +$15k)

No reports of rescuing Yuzu Kurosaki or Karin Kurosaki

Do not rescue them. Top priority is the Mayor."

Uliquiorra nodded and took off running. As his feet ran on auto pilot mode, skiming over the roof tops and debris, he scanned the info on Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Ichigo Kurosaki

Birthday: July 15

Age: 10 years old"

A picture of a little boy with shocking orange hair appeared with one of the biggest smiles Uliquiorra had ever seen. Beep! "Arriving destination, 3 meters."

Uliquiorra closed the files as he leaped over the lock down wall. His feet landing lightly over the roof. He scanned the area and saw a lot zombies stumbling around, he sighed, priority came first.

"Arrrgh..." Uliquiorra turned to see a shambling female zombie reach for him. In one fluid motion, he grabbed her head and twisted it off then he gently laid the body down. Even though his lack of flesh and blood did not prevent zombies from investigating. Luckily his fleshless body kept most zombies from outright attacking him. He lifted the woman's head and quickly did a scan,

"Julia Rothman, age 25 years old, marked for decreased. Cause of death, zombie plague... Sending death report... Sent."

"Congrats, Uliquiorra Cifer, position Battloid, credited $100 to account. Section D3 Current Population: 250."

Of which most are infected, Uliquiorra thought humorlessly. He didn't mind getting paid so little for such dangerous work... Battloids didn't have rights... Most people despise them, well that's because they don't know Battloids actually have human minds. Since many failures of human experiments, people were outright against human experiments. To maintain peace, the leaders have told the public that Battloids are simply complex robots there are no human experiments involved with this.

A lie of course... But ever since Uliquiorra has awaken... He felt detached... He didn't remember much about his human life... Whether he was successful or not...

"Approaching target's house."

Uliquiorra blinked, there were screaming within the building. Uliquiorra quickly hooked a rope around the chimney of a nearby house before slamming down on the fire escape. Three zombies rattled at the bars of the 3rd floor. It appears there are survivors... But who?

"Steel armor activated."

Uliquiorra didn't want his skin damaged, it cost too much to maintain a human looking appearance, plus those zombies couldn't be more than 20 hours old, that meant they were fast and harder to kill. Catching the shambling diseased corpse off guard, Uliquiorra quickly crushed one of their skulls with a round house kick then the other he just snapped its neck. The last one stared at him dumbly before lunging, Uliquiorra quickly side stepped so the corpse just ran off the rusty bars to the hard and unforgiving ground.

He quickly sent death reports as he scanned the window, there was too much dry blood all over the windows for him to make out what's inside.

"Uliquiorra Cifer, Position Battloid, sent to rescue any remaining uninfected civilians. Please state your name and position."

Uliquiorra stepped back with his hands slipped innocently into his pockets and his feet spread apart in a defensive position as he waited. A quiet muffled voice asked,

"Were you sent to... Rescue us?" Hope filled the voice as it answered.

"Yes, as I've stated before."

"I-I'm Ichigo Kurosaki... Um position... A student I guess?" A quivering voice said, Uliquiorra's eyebrows rose.

"Ichigo Kurosaki... Eldest Son of Isshin Kurosaki correct?"

Soft paddling of feet steps grew louder as the boy stepped closer, so close that Uliquiorra could make out that shock of orange hair and large brown eyes. Uliquiorra leaned closer as the boy came closer. A small hand pressed itself against the bullet proof window, Uliquiorra looked at it before placing his larger hand over it. Slowly the steel armor peeled off his face. Revealing his deathly pale face and the two cracks that ran down his cheeks.

It looked like he was crying black tears but reality it was just the gap between his metal skeleton.

The boy's eyes widen. He's heard of Battloids, how they were a menace to society because of their violent and ruthless personalities but this man... Before him looked nothing like the pictures people showed him in school. He didn't have sharp razor teeth or red evil eyes or horns on his head like a devil. In fact he looked pretty normal, though a bit too lean and short.

That smooth and pale face, was beautiful... More beautiful than those carved master pieces of Michelangelo. His glowing emerald eyes was so beautiful... So mesmerizing... His upper lip, though painted black was soft and delectable looking.

"Ichigo, what's out there?" Isshin asked nervously, blood dripped down his temple, Ichigo turned back to his father, "Ah! Dad there's a Battloid out there... Do I open the window?"

Isshin stumbled closer, squinting his eyes, "Who are you?"

Uliquiorra blinked as he scanned the middle aged man, "Uliquiorra Cifer, Mr. Isshin Kurosaki, we have received your distress signal and..."

"Far too late..." The man interrupted him, Uliquiorra frowned, "Excuse me, Mr. Isshin Kurosaki?"

The man laughed as a bubble of blood oozed then he lifted a blacken and infected bitten hand. Uliquiorra blinked as Isshin motioned his son to open the window. "Ichigo... Go with... With that man... He'll take you... Somewhere safe."

Uliquiorra's alarms were going off as Isshin coughed up more blood. The blood was getting darker... Uliquiorra controlled his urgency... He nearly growled when Ichigo fumbled around clumsily with the latch.

As latch slid open and the window slowly opened... Isshin collapsed... The boy turned to his fallen father, about to touch the infected. Uliquiorra quickly slam the window open and yanked the child back before his once father lunged for him. Yellowed teeth missing the boy's finger tips by inches. Uliquiorra leaned back and felt the fire escape bars behind him.

"Father!" Ichigo screamed but Uliquiorra could sense the zombies coming by the dozens. He had to finish things quickly if he wanted to deliver Ichigo back safely. Uliquiorra used his pointer and middle fingers and tapped Isshin's forehead. Zap... Laser shot out of his finger tips as Isshin's head exploded into a bloody and gory mess.

Ichigo screamed in horror as his father's headless body toppled backwards. His cries muffled by a hard and pale hand covering his mouth. The last thing he heard was that robotic voice saying in a monotonous voice,

"Mr. Isshin Kurosaki is dead, optional objective failure."

He remembered the tears rolling down his cheeks, was this all he was? Was this all they were to the Battloids? Missions? Objectives?

Yet... He felt a strange attraction to that handsome and cold man...

* * *

9 years later...

"Congratulations, Ichigo Kurosaki! For being the mayor of the year!" A short and wide man said loudly through the microphone, as the orange haired youth waved and walked up the stage, a camera followed his every movements. Girls on the first row sighed and clapped their hands together as the handsome man flashed a dazzling smile at their direction.

Ichigo straightened his tux jacket as he made his way to governor Kimchi, he bowed 90 degrees as he accepted the trinket. Ahh... Another worthless piece those higher ups give him. Through the false smile, his brown eyes swirled in hate and disgust as he shook the man's grease hand. Governor Kimchi laughed loudly and shook the hand heartly.

Once they stopped, Ichigo secretly wiped his hands as he turned, away from the camera, to his seat.

Governor Kimchi sneered, hmph, curse Isshin and his ilk.

AS Ichigo smiled at the cameras, he silently cursed these events. He despised all the higher ups... Every single one of them... Because of them... His father was dead... They in purposely sent the Battloid late...

And all of them were waiting for his father to die so they could claim their Sector...

_9 years before..._

_The cold Battloid took him to the capital so they could decide what to do with the orphan. Ichigo sat there, covered in blood and gore... The Battloid led him with a hand pressed lightly on his back._

_"Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki do not be afraid-"_

_Slap, _

_"Don't touch me, Battloid." Ichigo hissed, the Battloid's eyes widen a fraction before blinking away the confusion. Ichigo gritted his teeth, how complex was that scrap of metal's reactions! It must've taken those big wigs years to make him._

_"Don't talk to me either, Battloid!" Ichigo grounded out, his fists curled tight. He stuck out his bottom lip and waited defiantly for the Battloid to kill him or have a 'malfunction' so the big wigs could have one less Kurosaki to worry about._

_The Battloid blinked once more before stepping back. His arms hung loosely by his sides._

_Ichigo hated him... Despised him... That thing killed his father! How dare this thing walked around freely after killing his father?_

_"Ano, Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki, it is that way." The Battloid said, pointing at the opposite direction the orange haired boy was heading. Ichigo scowled darkly, he was about to stick his tongue out at the damn Battloid but the Battloid had a small smile on its pale face._

_Ichigo's mouth parted in shock and his heart hammered in his chest but then he scowled darkly as he stomped toward the direction of the Battloid and glared at the Battloid. But the scrap of metal was still smiling, then as Ichigo walked past the Battloid he kicked the man as hard as he could but in the next few seconds he spent it hopping around in pain._

_The stupid android didn't even flinch, he just looked amused as he followed the short tempered boy._

_"Hmmm, we told you to rescue Mr. Isshin not his son." Governor Kimchi said with a thick and fat cigar in his flabby mouth. His little beady eyes looked at the skinny little boy scowling at him._

_"Throw him in the orphanage!" A stick thin woman said as she powdered her face, Ichigo remembered her to be the mayor of Sector B, one of the most prestigious sectors of the Sanctuary. "Oh, I can't bear sad dirty children in my midst. It breaks my heart when I have to deal with their grubby faces and tears!"_

_"I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Kimchi and ." The Battloid said calmly, the rest of the room's audience glared and grasped as if what he just said was blasphemy. Well, in a way it was 'cause the Battloid project was funded cause the big wigs gave the nerds permission to create them and for the Battloid to even talk against them was like spitting in god's face._

_"Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki is the mayor of Sector D." The man said calmly,_

_"Impossible!"_

_"That cannot be!"_

_"Where's the proof, you scrap of metal, I mean Uliquiorra?"_

_ Uliquiorra put his hands around Ichigo's neck, "If I may, Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki."_

_His smooth and thin fingers elegantly unbuttoned Ichigo's shirt and slowly slipped in and pulled out a key. The key to the Sector... "Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki, is the heir to the position before all of you."_

Ichigo touched the key unconsciously, he could almost feel those surprisingly warm hands pressing the key to his palms. Even though Ichigo knew that his father never gave him the key... Ichigo gritted his teeth and looked down at his expensive leather shoes. He'd rather die that say thank you to that robot.

But why in the world did that robot give him the key? He could've given it to any of the big wigs like a dog he was...

Was there a glitch somewhere?

"Mr. Kurosaki, how do you feel about the Battloids considering how you were able to see one in action during your youth." The show host asked with his glittering blue tux.

Ichigo shook his head to clear his mind. He was not worried about that android... Not at all. Ichigo flashed a smile, "I'm sorry?"

The show host laughed and said, "Shame on you not paying any attention, Mr. Kurosaki!"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head with a weak laugh, "Yeah, I'm sorry."

The host gushed over him before repeating his question, Ichigo blinked and looked down at his feet. What did he think of them? He could already hear the audience muttering among themselves and offering their own opinions about the robots.

"They say we will see the end of the zombies... Soon there will be no need for them anymore." Ichigo said calmly, neither taking their side or going against them. Ichigo smirked at Governor Kimichi and the show host. It was clear that the damn show host was bribed to ask such a question so he could make Ichigo look bad.

But Ichigo wasn't even half as dumb as they thought. The sweating show host laughed nervously, "Ah, so Mr. Kurosaki, what do you think we should do with the Battloids when they are no longer needed?"

Ichigo laughed in a friendly manner but his eyes told the show host that he was on his hit list. "I don't know. It's be a waste of funds if we just kill them and Dr. Davinci refuse to give us the rights to his technology. So there's not much we can do with them really."

Almost 50 miles away, a man with shocking blue hair and a man with shaggy messy black hair crowded around a tiny t.v. while occasionally rotating the antenna when the screen flickered.

"Hmph fuck that shit!" The man with blue hair growled, he jabbed a finger at the cracked screen, "That son of a bitch just want us dead and gone! Look how fake his shitty smile is! It's so fake it's plastic!"

Uliquiorra sighed and tighten his arms around his knees, "Grimmjow, please be more respectful toward our superiors."

"Superiors? Fuck that! Superior in what fuckin' sense?" Grimmjow growled as he flexed his lean and muscular arms, "I'm hotter than all those fat pigs combined and a thousand times stronger!"

Nnoitra laughed as he walked into the cramped living room, his long weapon fell heavily next to him with a loud thunk, "Hahaha! Grimmy here's just mad 'cause all the ladies think his looks are fake."

Grimmjow growled at Nnoitra and clenched his fists angrily but he didn't do a thing because he knew without a shred of doubt Nnoitra was as short tempered as he was. With a loud sigh, Grimmjow sat down with a loud thump. His cheek resting on his palm as his elbow rested on his crossed legs.

"Fuck... Why the hell do they have to tell the damn public that we're just robots... Heck as if that old geezer, Davinci, would bother wastin' his time makin' us all pretty an' everything." Grimmjow muttered angrily, "Why the fuck do we got to work our butts off for those damn sheeps?"

Grimmjow continued as he used his claws to carve rich politicians' faces on the faded tiles before punching them all in. It was understandable that Grimmjow was mad; he used to be part of the marines and everything but now... He was considered nothing more than a lowly thug. Uliquiorra sighed as he stood up, he didn't remember who he was before but it didn't matter, he couldn't imagine a life out of killing zombies. Brushing the dust off his pants and clothes. He unsheathed his katana,

"They're here..."

Nnoitra grinned as he stood up, Grimmjow cracked his knuckles,

"Oh yeah..."

Slowly the door shook as decaying bodies pressed themselves against the door, rattling the door.

"Easy does it boys." Grimmjow said smiling as his claws popped out. Yes... There was no life outside of killing the dead. Uliquiorra thought as the dead exploded through the splinters and planks. Positioning his sword back, Uliquiorra waited for the blood lust to take him over and make him feel alive again...

* * *

**Review please! And thank to all who read this fanfic!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: A lot of mistakes (I'll fix them later) and cursing.**

**Hi, this is my first Bleach fanfic. (: It's about the future and zombies (: Okay I came up with this idea from playing too much assassin's creed 3. There's the whole synchronization thingy except it's present time not in the past thing.**

* * *

_"Hey..." A girl with long burnt orange hair said, a little blue flower click held her long bangs out of her face. It didn't matter... He couldn't... See her face. She leaned over him and brushed his messy hair back,_

_"Hey, how you're feeling. Ulquiorra?" Her voice said... It was like water droplets falling on a still surface... Creating ripples..._

_"I..." He tried to speak but..._

"Yo, he's awake!" A voice yelled in the dark room, echoing around but it wasn't like her voice...

Ulquiorra blinked a bit but the room was still fuzzy... Well, his legs and tiled floor was still fuzzy. Oh... He was back at the lab...

Beep! Beep! Beep! "Low battery, charging 35%."

His finger twitched a bit, he lifted his head up tiredly, feeling the wires and tubes attached to the back of his neck rub against his back. He cracked his mouth open as his vision cleared enough for him to see Grimmjow's worried face, his voice box vibrating as the engines warmed up,

"What happened?"

His voice sounded like dry and thick paper rubbing against each other. Grimmjow lost his worried expression for a dark scowl,

"What happened? Take a load of this shit, Nnoitra!" Grimmjow hollered to something in the back, rustling sounds accompanied the sound of light footsteps.

"This prissy bastard just asked me what happened! He gives us the shock of our life, collapsing like that in middle of the mission, and he asks us what the fuck happened!"

Grimmjow said angrily as he kicked the wires and tubes out of his way, Ulquiorra frowned. Nnoitra came into view and laughed, his long and neat teeth reflecting the green glow of the engines.

"Hahaha, even the cold Ulquiorra can lose his cool in the heat of the battle! I salute to you!" The tall and lanky man said as he plopped himself down on the stool he dragged across the room.

"So, how'd it feel when you just hacked and slashed your way through 'em?"

Nnoitra asked with an almost feral grin as he replayed the crazy fight scenes. Ulquiorra blinked again, the tear cracks on his face glowed green, indicating he was charging.

"I don't know... I wanted to feel alive... Again..."

Ulquiorra said as he pressed a hand over his chest, where his heart should be, but all he could feel was the rhythmic humming and whirling in his chest. That vision... It was a memory, he was sure of it... But that girl... It was nearly impossible to find her now, he couldn't even remember how she looked back then let alone now... And he couldn't replicate her sweet and clear voice...

And now time was running out for him...

Ulquiorra sighed as he tilted his head up, Dr. Davinci won't be able to protect them forever... Once he's dead, it'll only be a matter of time when they're turned into scrap metal. He wanted to see her at least once... Looking back down on his kneeling legs... She might've been one of those humans that left for a better world...

If that's the case, he'll never see her again... Spacers (name for those who left) were forbidden to come back to Earth, regardless of the circumstances...

He wondered if he'd said goodbye to her?

"Grimmjow..." Ulquiorra said as he glared at the electric blue haired man who flinched back, "What?" The Battloid asked.

Ulquiorra furrowed his brows, "Why am I still dirty?"

Battloids are incapable of smell so it took Ulquiorra awhile to notice his those random reddish splotches were blood and gore with his blurry vision. Grimmjow scowled darkly back and replied hotly,

"Hey! I've never signed up for cleaning prissy bastards and besides!" Grimmjow jerked a thumb as Nnoitra's direction, "Why don't you ask him why **he** didn't give your sorry ass a shower? He's lower ranked than you!"

Ulquiorra briefly flipped his eyes to Nnoitra's direction, following Grimmjow's finger, then he turned his cold glare back on Grimmjow.

"Hey! How about Stark? He was there too!" Grimmjow offered as he jabbed another finger at the slouching man.

"Whoa... Whoa... I don't do... Snurk... I don't do things like that... I... I was vanguard..." Stark mumbled before falling flat on his face. Grimmjow scowled in disgust, why the hell were all these crazy loonies are ranked higher than he was?

Ulquiorra opened his mouth and replied coldly, "I don't trust Nnoitra for such a task and Stark is incapable of such a feat."

Nnoitra giggled at Grimmjow's steaming face and Stark raised a finger up, "I second that..."

Grimmjow crossed his legs, "What the hell? What the fuck am I your slave?!"

Before Ulquiorra reply,

"Code Orange! Code Orange! Code Orange! All Battloids meet at the meeting room, immediately! Your actions will be recorded as of now!"

Ulquiorra blinked as the wires and tubes popped off as a message flashed before his eyes, "Recording Ulquiorra Cifer actions beginning now."

He flicked his eyes over to another smaller message, "Ulquiorra Cifer, position Battloid, current energy rate: 50%, unable for code red to yellow ranked battles."

Wordlessly, he rose to his feet and followed the other grumbling Battloids to the meeting room. Grimmjow scratched the back of his head, looking all nervous, he's already got 2 warnings... If he get anymore, he'd be punished again... And it's unpleasant...

Nnoitra's smile looked a bit tight, even though he only had one warning... He still hated and feared the big wigs.

Stark stumble around unsteadily, he just wanted to sleep... And never ever wake up. He had the lowest synchronization rate of them all...

Only Ulquiorra looked calm, he wasn't afraid of the higher ups... As if he'd give them an opening to kill him for. He followed the rules, word for word... And he highly doubt he'd get in trouble for using too much energy in a battle. In fact, they must be gnashing their teeth that he wasn't dead yet.

Looking at the simple and clean white ceilings and the bright fluorescent lights overhead...

"Ulquiorra Cifer is now 5 meters away from MEETING_ROOM."

What could be they be calling them for? Another outbreak? No, that would mean one of them would get a mission order or a group of them would receive a mission order if it was a large scale outbreak. Code orange... That meant it wasn't something that required immediate action...

Cool air blasted in Ulquiorra's face as the doors to the meeting room opened. Scanners scan each of the Battloids as they walked inside, weapons were confiscated as handcuffs were placed on them.

Though Grimmjow grumbled and growl, it was clear that he felt nervous because he couldn't do anything... He hate feeling helpless... He glanced nervously at Ulquiorra cause he was the only one that never ever got a warning or even a punishment from the higher ups... Plus that bastard was a fuckin' genius...

Ulquiorra looked at the handcuffs boredly as the machine beeped warning and rules that he had memorized word for word. They stepped into a thick reinforced glass box, they took their seats and placed their hands on the table in front of them as ordered.

"So what are we were summoned for?"

Ulquiorra asked, the sector leaders glared at him. Ulquiorra nearly let his eyes widen when he saw a familiar mop of shocking orange hair.

"You, Battloids were summoned here... Because we found one of those _Spacers_" One of the Sectors said the word with as much as disgust as the man could muster, "Actually had the audacity to land a ship here! As if to mock us! We want you guys to investigate them and-"

"Do we reveal our existence to them, sir?" Ulquiorra asked bluntly, he could see the man ready to rant about his eternal hatred for the Spacers.

The man glared at Ulquiorra but Ulquiorra didn't even blink, he was of the ones who knew the Battloids were really humans.

"Ah... No, if the... But..."

"Where are they located?" Ulquiorra asked again; the rest of the Battloids looked at Ulquiorra thankfully, he was the only one who could be this blunt and rude and could get away with it. Plus he was speeding up the meeting up!

"Ah... Um..." The man stammered while shooting daggers at the expressionless Battloid. "wait a moment here!"

Ichigo had stopped doodling when he saw the Battloid... The Battloid haven't aged a day since that day even though the Battloid was covered in flakes of dried blood and gore... Ichigo gripped the pen tightly, so hard his hands shook, he could feel his heart racing and beating like it used to...

Ulquiorra turned his head slowly, ignoring the babbles and lectures the idiotic sector leader was sprouting out, emerald eyes met with hard amber eyes.

Ichigo shivered and trembled while the damn Battloid looked calm as ever. Getting angry and frustrated, Ichigo slammed the pen hard against the desk as he stood up.

"Stop being chickens!" He shouted, giving each of the leaders a good glare, "I'll go and meet them!"

The sector leader he interrupted stammered in shock but he was ranked lower than Ichigo so he just said, "B-But that area is completely overrun by extremely dangerous zombies! Ranked S! Intelligent and violent!"

Ichigo glared at the man until he snapped his big mouth shut then he turned to the seating and defenseless Battloids... Well the green eyes one with tear streaks on his face. It was kind obvious that guy was kind of like the leader of the Battloids...

Cause the one called Stark was out like a bulb...

And the one called Louisenbairn wasn't even paying any attention...

And the one called Harribel wasn't even trying to interact with the rest of the Battloids...

And the one called Nnoitra had this sickly looking expression on his face as he kept glancing at Ulquiorra with those slit like eyes of his...

And the one called Grimmjow was tweedling his thumbs with this tight expression and if Ichigo remembered correctly this guy was one of the reason why the public thought Battloids were monsters...

And the one called Rureaux was just meditating while glancing at Ulquiorra every time he said something...

And the one called Granz just giggled nervously and flinching every time the Sector leaders reprimanded the impassive Battloid...

And the one called Arruruerie well... He wore a strange mask over his face so Ichigo had no idea what he was thinking...

And the one called Yammy just yawned and smashed his thick fingers on the thin table as he waited impatiently for the sector leaders to finish...

"Don't care," Ichigo said with a superficial smile, "I'll just take some of the Battloids with me, they should be more than enough-"

"But, Mr. Kurosaki we need them! And who else would-" The stupid Sector leader squealed,

"I said some didn't I?" Ichigo grounded out between his clenched teeth. The Sector leader squealed and hid behind his clipboard, well... Ichigo couldn't really blame him 'cause some of the Sector leaders wanted Sector D they spread bad rumors about Ichigo... Just to make him look unfit to be mayor but sucks for them cause it just made his Sector one of the lowest crime rated Sectors! Hah! In their faces and up their arses!

"Oh? Well Mr. Kurosaki, who are you going to take with you?" Governor Kimchi asked as he admired the rings that adorn his fat fingers.

Ichigo kept his tight smile, that fat-ass was the one who created the best mayor of the year just to make Ichigo look bad but of course Ichigo did everything in his power to retain the best mayor of the year from day one. Hah! In your face and up your arse! It took almost everything in Ichigo's control not to stick up the middle finger at the fat bastard!

"Well, I'm thinking of letting Ulquiorra choose." Ichigo said as he sat back in his seat, waving his pen around.

"What?! Why him?" Kimchi shouted with spittle flying all over the place. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, 'why him'? Why wasn't it 'why that robot?'

Ulquiorra stood up, "I see... I believe Harribel, Grimmjow and Stark will suffice."

The blue haired Battloid bristle and hissed at the expressionless Battloid, "What the fuck did you have to include me? If you're getting back at me for not giving you a bath..." The man clasped his hands and begged, "I'll wash you every fuckin' day and even your freakin' clothes! Just don't do this to me!"

Ichigo blinked, what a reaction... It was as if that thing actually had feelings instead of a programmed personality. Ichigo shook his head, he'd better get in his head that these things were extremely advanced androids.

Ulquiorra looked at Grimmjow, "Refrain from embarrassing yourself any further, Grimmjow."

The blue haired man scowled and jerked a finger at the one called Nnoitra, "Why the fuck not mantis?"

Nnoitra laughed and leaned back, "Cause you're dumb?"

Grimmjow scowled, "Why you!" He hollered before raising his cuff to pound against the thin man's forehead but a large electric shock rendered the Battloid into a boneless heap of limbs. Nnoitra lost his mocking grin and looked horrified and very much like a cornered rat. He looked like he wanted to shake his companion but was too scared to.

The gray smoke frizzing out the blue haired man's mouth made all the other Battloids nervous except for Ulquiorra and a few but even Harribel looked worried.

Ichigo tilted his head as he leaned his cheek against his palm, interesting... So they do show fear when one of them is hurt... But what was the point of such a reaction? To elicit sympathy from them? Glancing around the room, Ichigo could see that didn't work very well.

"Do not worry, Grimmjow just desynchronized... He will be fine." Ulquiorra said as looked up, "Are we dismissed?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Governor Kimchi said with a bored wave. Immediately the rest of the Battloids got up and were walking-running out. Harribel, who looked like she cared the least, picked up the fallen Battloid and carried him back to the lab. The blue haired Battloid still had that blank and horrified expression on his face... His blue eyes wide open and seeing nothing as his cuffed hand swayed back and forth to the rhythm to Harribel's steps.

* * *

"Raaah!"

Pound... Punch... Pow... Bam!

The punching bag shook and swayed to the furious Battloid's assault.

"Fuck it all! Why the fuck we have to..." Grimmjow screamed, "Why do we have to listen to them?" His voice grew softer as he rested a hand on the hard leather sack. His expression was of helpless anger; he couldn't do a thing...

None of them could do a thing about it...

Harribel leaned calmly against the wall to the right of the furious blue haired Battloid, her arms crossed, her voice softly slipped out her collar, "There's nothing we can do about it... We are at their mercy, you should've known that when you signed up for this."

Grimmjow dug his fingers into the red punching bag while softly letting the bag hit against his head like a ball,

"I... I didn't sign up for this... I signed up for my country... Not to be their dogs..."

He said quietly as he absently mindly scratched his left arm, right above the elbow, where his old marine tattoo was... They didn't let him get the tattoo on his Battloid form because... They said it was too centered on one area... Grimmjow turned his head sadly to the direction of the capsules, in one of those tubes... He was sleeping there...

Soft child like footsteps echoed around the hallway as Ulquiorra stepped into view. Grimmjow glared at him, "You-"

"You wanted to be free didn't you, Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra interrupted as he sat down on a stray steel chair, his emerald eyes glowing like the light on a computer's power button. His dark hair framed over his glowing eyes almost sinister,

"If we leave this place... To the restricted areas..." Ulquiorra continued softly, his voice gliding over the dark and barely lit room, his hands clasped, "We will be free."

Harribel's eyes widen, "Impossible..."

Stark was actually awake as he sat up, his expression of bewilderment, as he listened to the petite man speak. "What..." Stark cleared his throat nervously even though his body was functioning perfectly fine, "What do you propose we do?"

Grimmjow sneered bitterly at the greened eyed man, "Hah! As if!" But when those black and white lips opened and said one simple word, even the hard and disbelieving blue eyes widen in shock and disbelief.

"Mutiny..."

* * *

Ichigo packed his clothes neatly in one side of the luggage. Stopping he glanced out of the window of his apartment, the crescent moon greeted him with its luminous glow.

He was going to go to the wilds... Where the towns and cities of the old were overran by the living dead...

*Twinge* Ichigo closed his eyes tightly as he trembled... The memories of waiting in absolute horror and fear as people who used to know become one of them...

The image of his dear and beautiful mother... Her sweet smile distorted with blood and her kind eyes warped into a hollowed and hungry look... Her beautifully manicured hands with carefully cared for nails... Gone and replaced by broken and torn fingernails and unnaturally pale hands groping around the darkness for her family's flesh and blood. Her curly hair a tangled and bloody mess...

The nice lady next door that always gave him candy became nothing more than a drooling and shambling corpse...

And the man upstairs who always helped fix the toilet when dad broke it... Gone and dead... Let the rest of them... Even his father, the man who he thought was invincible, became one of them...

At least he didn't see what had become of his father... He still had that precious image of his father in his youth... It wasn't distorted by the rotting corpse his neighbors had become... Even though the emerald Battloid killed his father... It was to save him... And it covered his eyes...

Ichigo sighed and fell back on his bed, lifting the key... Dangling it over his tired face, why on earth did that Battloid help him? Was it some kind of secret order? Was it some kind of advance technical program that was created to make victims feel more secure and safe around them?

Then... Why... Why did Ulquiorra give him the key and lie to the higher ups? Everyday Ichigo waited for some kind of secret message or blackmail to come and sit on his desk... But nothing came and no one mentioned the incident for favors...

And after that incident, Ulquiorra just faded away from his life... The only time he saw the impassive robot was when the robot was ordered to guard some big wig or sent to subdue an outbreak in his Sector. Each time was a quick glimpse yet still, just looking at the handsome and short man was enough to make his heart race and beat painfully...

Ichigo began to collect random news clippings of the robot, it wasn't like he could hire someone to take the pictures cause it'd be all over the news. And he kind of found out the damn robot had no life outside of work. All it'd do was hide in the lab until it was summoned to leave for a new mission and that was all it would do.

Well it was still a hunk of metal regardless of how advance it was.

As Ichigo collected information about the Battloid, he found out the robot loved the color green and had a strange attraction to orangy brown hair. When the robot happened to pass a girl with long orange hair, he would freeze and turn to follow the girl with his sharp gaze.

Ichigo groaned and ran his fingers through his hair, "It doesn't make sense..."

He mumbled to himself as he curled around himself, a sharp and unpleasant feeling prickled around his chest... Jealousy...

Ichigo closed his eyes for a troubled slumber, waiting for the tomorrow of the unknown and unpredictable robots... Tomorrow, they will set out for the forsaken lands...

* * *

**Thank you for all those who read my fanfic (:**

**Please review!**

**Arty: Thank you for your review! I will try my best to make it good. Thank you for telling me about the mistake!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: A lot of mistakes (I'll fix them later) and cursing.**

**Hi, this is my first Bleach fanfic. (: It's about the future and zombies (: Okay I came up with this idea from playing too much assassin's creed 3. There's the whole synchronization thingy except it's present time not in the past thing.**

* * *

"Mutiny..." Ulquiorra said calmly, not even shocked that such an offensive thing crawled out of his mouth.

Grimmjow's mouth opened and closed in shock before transforming into a scowl, bam!

"Fuck no!" Grimmjow growled, "Just cause the sectors leaders are asses... Doesn't mean I'd betray my country! I've got my-"

"Yes, yes, yes, your pride," Ulquiorra said boredly waving his hand as if he was dismissing an annoying fly, "Grimmjow, your country died a long time ago... There is no more United States or anything else besides United Nations."

Grimmjow scowled, "But..."

Harribel growled as she narrowed her eyes, she had left her usually place against the wall and was marching over to Ulquiorra. She was an ex special forces soldier... Loyalty and order was instilled into her from her youth.

"You dare assume we will willy nilly go and betray our leaders?" She hissed as she pulled out her strange short sword and lifted Ulquiorra's chin up with the flat of the blade. "I am disappointed that you! You, who Dr. Davinci trust most, would think of such a thing!"

Stark stepped out of the shadows, Ulquiorra's eyes widen, he had forgotten about the man. The tall and lank man scratched the back of his head and sighed, "It's okay Harribel... Not like-"

Harribel whipped her blade against his neck and growled, her voice muffled by her collar, "You! Who lack the resolve, why are you even here?"

A strange look took over his face before morphing back to his lazy and tired expression, "I have my own reasons."

"What kind of reasons?" Harribel asked coldly but then footsteps captured the four's attention.

"Calm yourself, Harribel, I ordered Ulquiorra to ask that question," Dr. Davinci said as Ulquiorra bowed, Grimmjow grunted, Harribel inclined her head respectfully and Stark blinked in surprise.

"To test your resolve, I can't afford to have half-hearted resolve to protect Ichigo Kurosaki." Dr. Davinci said as he stepped into their circle with ease,

"Why? He's just a sector leade-" Grimmjow said as he crossed his arms,

"That's right, just a Sector Leader, Grimmjow." Dr. Davinci said with one finger raised up, Ulquiorra lowered his eyes as the elderly man walked pass. Grimmjow furrowed his brows as Dr. Davinci continued,

"He's the youngest of the Sector Leaders... If we win him over he can protect you all after I'm gone." A strange look stole over the scientist's face, "I won't have any of my creations die with me!"

Glaring at the assembled Battloids, "I made you for the future... Not to die with the past!" Dr. Davinci hissed while his claw shaped hand shaking. Ulquiorra watched the elder with quiet eyes and put his hands in his pockets.

"But" Dr. Davinci whispered when his halting and wobbly steps put him in front of Stark, "You lack the resolve to be part of the group."

Stark blinked before shrugging his shoulders, a sleepy look settling over his face, "Yeah, whatever..." He said before turning away to his room.

Dr. Davinci gave Stark a long glance before turning back to the remaining Battloids, "Your orders are to protect Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki, his reputation precedes him, giving him an edge that could work in our favor if we play the cards right. He isn't as stupid as most of the old fools made him out to be thus he can easily turn things to his favor... Considering how everyone underestimate him... You cannot allow him to die no matter what."

His last words hung in the air.

Ulquiorra nodded as he straightened up, Grimmjow's face had this seriousness to it that many thought he was incapable of and Harribel sheathed her strange blade before bowing. These three were instilled loyalty and order. Grimmjow, an ex-marine, though young, was in a class of his own. Brass and rude attitude hid the sapphire haired man's talents...

Harribel was part of the Special Armed forces but the plague came in... She and her team was sent to subdue the plague and she was the only survivor of the team of five. She stayed in the town, she was assigned to, for months even though her comrades long dead, even though the town was nothing more than a living hell... Even the remnants of the United States government gave up the patch of land for the dead, still she remained. That was what made Dr. Davinci approach her and give her the offer of become part of the new team.

And Ulquiorra... He was different from all of them... He was special, that's why he's...

Dr. Davinci tore his eyes off the silent Battloid and stalked off, when Harribel went over to assist him, he waved her away, "Go get ready, that's all I need."

"But..." The tan colored Battloid said but Dr. Davinci silenced her with a look, her eyes widen as she got the message. "I see... I will not fail you." She said as she turned back to the other two.

Her cold eyes, framed with blond lashes, examined the her partners, "Get ready." She said simply as she pushed the door opened.

* * *

Ichigo bit back a growl as he loosened his restricting tie as he followed the damn tour guide through the Battloid's Infamous Laboratory. The damn fluorescent lights hurt his tired eyes, stabbing at his eyes like sunlight against closed eyes. The simpering man was sweating all over the place while stuttering like a fool, why on earth did they hire such a useless man for such a job?

Snapping the balding tour guide a glare, Ichigo asked impatiently, "Why aren't any of the Battloids here?"

The man wiped his forehead, his name tag flashing for a moment, Steve was it? "Uh... Um... They need time... They've never been outside of the laboratory for such an indefinite time... There's been some upgrades and... Uh..."

Ichigo curled his lips and sighed. Then he stopped as his brown eyes caught the sight behind the reinforced glass windows... It was the training room, located in the center of the whole facility.

There was that blue haired Battloid, he was punching that silver colored punching bag as he circled the bag, Ichigo could see his face. He could see the rage and sheer determination within the man's eyes as he pounded the bag with a vengeance. Ichigo stopped and crossed his arms calmly as he observed the man's skill.

First the man punched the bag as if something was holding him back but then the blows grew in speed and strength. The bag began to swing back as the blows rain down on its sleek surface. Soon the man's fists became a tan blur as shortened his blows and sped up the deliveries. The bag's surface, facing the Battloid, was littered with indents that it didn't have time to recover from as more came.

With a loud howl, the last attack stabbed a hole at the side of the bag, sand poured out of the whole instantaneously like an explosion. The man was drenched in sand, the golden colored grains stuck to the man's blue eye lashes and skin. The Battloid remain frozen as the sand continued to pour down around him, creeping down his white pants and spilling out of his pockets before filling his dark shoes with its abundance.

The man lifted his sand caked face up, his azure eyes finding Ichigo's. His calmed face transformed into his usually scowl, his fingers twitched as if he was about to stick the middle finger up but that was impossible! He was robot... Incapable of going against his programs right? The Battloid just shoved his hands into his pocket as if to convince himself that if his hands was out of sight, he could control his rude urges.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes as the Battloid left the training room through automatic sliding doors, pointing at the doors, "Why did the Battloid bother practice? Can't it master everything with a press of a button?"

The tour guide blinked in shock before cleaning his foggy glasses, "Um... Ano... It's because of their structure... They have muscles, in a way, that are made up of millions of wires of various materials... They need to retain a certain temperature to keep them flexible and strong... Um... They are programmed of different types... And um they created from the same template so... Um they... Uh train themselves to make their bodies adapt to their styles..."

Ichigo hmmmed as he tapped the window still even though he could tell the man was lying, well about the same template part. Each Battloid had a completely different body structure and they all had their own styles, their strides different, their movements completely different from each other.

The one called Grimmjow had a cool and brash yet panther like grace in his movements while Ulquiorra had a silent and barely noticeable, whimsical movements of shadows.

It was impossible for something of the same template to develop this from a few programs and plus the man was stuttering more than usual.

"Ah... Um..." The man stuttered as he clutched the clipboard closer to his chest, Ichigo turned to follow his wide eyes to see the Blue haired Battloid stalking over with a predator's grace. Yes, he was completely different from the soft spoken emerald eyed Battloid. It didn't matter how advance his programs were... There was no way he and the emerald eyed Battloid from the same template.

"It's because... Uh, it's too costly for us to constantly to um to keep upgrading them so uh Dr. Davinci created them to develop their own strength. And a way to help themselves. He created a wire type of growth." Steve stopped stuttering as he prattled on how amazing the Battloids were and how they were beyond all their current technology.

Ichigo was half listening as he stared at the blue haired Battloid, when Grimmjow walked pass him, Ichigo put his hands in his pocket and said, "Stop."

Grimmjow blinked as he turned his head slowly, a barely suppressed glare aimed at the orange haired man's back. "Yeah?"

Ichigo turned his head slightly to glance at the Battloid as if the robot wasn't worth his time, "Where's your leader?"

Grimmjow furrowed his brows, leader? Dr. Davinci? No, that would be creator or something along that shit. "Leader?"

Ichigo sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose before turning to the short-tempered Battloid who was grinding his teeth together with a snarl. "The one with green eyes? You know the one-"

"Ulquiorra? He ain't our leader, if any it'd be Stark cause he's the highest ranked one." Grimmjow spat out, thinking Ichigo meant their ranks. Not wanting to be in that Sector leader's presence any longer than he needed to be, Grimmjow snapped out, "If ya lookin' for the prissy bastard, he's in the lab."

Then Grimmjow jogged off, he just wanted a snack and then that damn prissy Sector D3 brat just corners him! Shoving his I.D. roughly into the slot, the vending machine beeped.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, wha-"

"The usual." Grimmjow snapped, why was everything so fuckin's slow? Back when in his youth, damn clerks practically just look at you and knew exactly what you wanted, especially when you were a regular! Now all these fancy machines take FOREVER to just spit out one energy bar! Even though Grimmjow could only eat one type of energy bar!

"Grimmjow Jaegeriaquez, what would you like to have?"

"THE DAMN- WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I CAN EAT?!" Grimmjow screamed as the machine's lights flashed for a moment, trying to understand his request. After awhile of Grimmjow panting in anger, the vending machine beeped,

"Grimmjow Jaegeriaquez, position Battloid, inquiring diet information... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep..."

Grimmjow stared at the machine with his mouth hanging open, "Are you fuckin' serious?"

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Grimmjow Jaegeriaquez, position Battloid" Twitch twitch twitch, "Info: Diet: Metal Bars, designed by Dr. Vincent Leon Davinci, born on-"

"SHUT UP!" Grimmjow yelled as he slugged the useless machine, he grinned when he heard a satisfying crunch as the metal gave way to his assault.

"Grimmjow Jaegeriaquez, what would you like to have?" The machine beeped cheerfully even though its side was con-caved inward.

"A fuckin' metal bar..."

* * *

Ulquiorra remain still, even though message boxes popped up... All over his view with their transparent yet annoyingly demanding red colors... Telling him someone has entered the radius he set out for himself...

Battloids could set markers that inform the Battloid if someone/something was moving within the radius.

Ulquiorra sighed softly as he closed his eyes, thus shutting out all the messages. If he pretended to be asleep they'd leave him alone, right?

Ulquiorra wrapped his arms around the glass surface, he didn't want to leave... He hated changes... With his eyes still closed, he could hear the countless bubbles popping against the smooth glassy surface. The muffled heart beating within the chest cavern... Long inky colored hair rippling and floating about the silent and still sleeping form.

"Oh dear... You should go Mr. Kurosaki." A female's voice said, Ulquiorra stirred a bit at the orange haired man's name.

"Huh? Why?" Ichigo asked while trying to peek over the attendant's shoulder, once he reached the lowest leveled lab they told the annoying tour guide to leave because this was strictly for Battloids and their personals.

When he caught a glimpse of the glowing green tubes, he stepped back confused.

The female robot attendant put her hands down as she smoothed her hair back, "Ulquiorra Cifer is unable to meet with you right now."

Ichigo frowned as he stepped back, he limply let the attendant lead him to the waiting area. As he processed what he saw...

He saw the black haired Battloid draped over one of the tubes... It looked like he was sleeping, which was strange... The guy did not pass off as a guy who would sleep before an important mission... And the tube... He was draped over... Had someone in it... It looked like a girl... With long hair...

Thinking and rubbing his chin, Ichigo heard a loud crunch and the sound of fast flowing liquid go down something. Ichigo paused and looked up to see the blue haired Battloid from before. He had a towel throw over one shoulder and wore a simple t-shirt and cargo shorts, he had a water bottle in one hand and the other was a... Well, it looked like an energy bar but the color was weird... Like a big mess of metallic colors.

Grimmjow stared at Ichigo and blinked as if he couldn't believe that Ichigo was here. His eyebrows drew close together in anger, how dare that Sector Brat just come down here?! This was their place! Battloids and robots ONLY!

Then the attendant popped out from behind Ichigo, her hair tied back in a tight bun and an empty smile permanently plastered on her face. "Good day, Mr. Grimmjow Jaegeriaquez!"

Ah, that explained it... Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, the damn Sector brat was allowed here because he was going to replace the old man... Grimmjow took another swig of water to wash down the stray bits of metal and minerals before chomping down on the bar. Ichigo's eyebrows rose when he saw Grimmjow's fangs pop out and tore through the metal bar as if it was made of slightly chilled buttered.

"Couldn't find Ulqqy?" Grimmjow asked as he leaned back as he suck the bottle of half its contents, the plastic crinkling as the pressure became too much.

"Ulqqy?" Ichigo echoed as the the blue haired Battloid scowled darkly,

"Ulqqy as in Ulquiorra?" He snapped, Ichigo frowned, he really didn't like this brash and rude Battloid. Once all the water was gone, Grimmjow crushed the plastic bottle into a small circle and tossed over his shoulder. The attendant tilted her head to the side as her eyes flashed red,

"Mr. Grimmjow Jaegeriaquez, this behavior is not approved! Beep!"

Ichigo blinked as he waited for the blue haired robot to pick up the litter but to his surprise the robot just grunted and threw himself on a metal bench, his sandal cladded feet on the pristine steel surface, the attendant's eyes flashed even more,

"Mr. Grimmjow Jaegeriaquez, this behavior is not approved! Beep! Beep!"

But the robot ignored her, Ichigo stared at the robot as it gave him a sneer that said, 'you think I'm some kind of mindless drone?'

Ichigo crossed his arms, he knew that the Battloid... If it wanted to, it could rip him in half but he wasn't going to back down. Grimmjow gave a low whistle as Ichigo glared at him defiantly, trying to quell a rebellion with his eyes alone. Grimmjow grinned, his fangs laid bare but the mortal before him did not even flinch.

"Fine..." Grimmjow said while looking the orange haired man up and down, "For now, I'll accept you're my boss..."

"What are you doing?" A cold voice asked, Ichigo froze, he remembered that voice... From his bloody and horror filled past, Ichigo turned to see the petite man, brush his shaggy black hair back.

Grimmjow clammed his mouth shut, Ulquiorra fixed the light green scarf around his neck as if he was getting ready for a photo shoot, his looks was enough... If they weren't a few hundred feet underground, Ichigo would've looked around for a photographer with his minions lugging the heavy equipment.

"Why are you not ready, Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra asked as he looked the blue haired Battloid up and down. Grimmjow scowled, "I thought 'cause you were with sleeping beauty-"

"That does not mean you should not get ready." Ulquiorra said coldly, "And" He let the word linger in the air a little longer before continuing, "Am I not ready? You are not like me. Know your limits, Grimmjow."

Grimmjow growled before stomping off to his room while stripping in the hallway. The furious attendant followed the Battloid while picking up each article of discarded clothing and beeping about what is not approved.

Ulquiorra turned to Ichigo, "I apologize for Grimmjow. He does not know his limits but he has his values."

Ichigo blinked at the soft voice of the petite man before him, Ulquiorra gestured at Ichigo to follow him. "Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki, please follow me. I will take you to the meeting room where the rest of the team is waiting."

As they walked through the plain white hallways, with an occasional black security camera scan the area, Ulquiorra spoke,

"Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki I must inform you that Coyote Stark is not with us, he has been deemed unacceptable for the mission."

Ichigo nodded silently, he didn't care about it, after all they're just robots right? But there was something that bothered him, "Ulquiorra"

Ulquiorra froze, this was the first time he heard the man say his name... Ulquiorra turned his large eyes to the orange haired man, who's eyes was cast down,

"Yes, Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki?" Ulquiorra turned his whole body to the silent contemplating man before him, silently Ulquiorra slipped his hands into his pockets but refrained from hunching forward. His body stiff and on defensive even though his mind told him logically there was no threats... He was always on his guard... For as long as he could remember... Which wasn't that far back...

"Um..." Ichigo started, those emerald orbs prompting him to speak, "I wan-... I wish for you all to call me Ichigo," Ichigo said with a bit of embarrassment then he added, "All my friends call me that." Giving a lame excuse, he didn't know why he told Ulquiorra that anyway... The man was a robot, a hunk of metal! Just shaped like a human... With exceptionally handsome features...

Ulquiorra tilted his head to the side with slow and precise movements of a curious animal but kept his face devoided of emotions. "I see... Ichigo."

A few minutes later...

Bang! Grimmjow stumbled into the room in a languid manner, brushing his messy bangs back as he zippered up his water proof white jacket up. The door slammed shut behind him as he spun the chair out with one fluid motion. He propped himself on the leaning chair. Folding his hands on his lap he grinned,

"So what's up?"

Ulquiorra sighed and shook his head as he straightened out the stack of papers on his desk. Harribel glared at the rude Battloid,

"Quiet Grimmjow." She hissed, her voice surprisingly musical though muffled by her high collar.

Ichigo shifted uncomfortably in his new battle suit. Designed to regulate his body temperature and protect him from any zombies lower class than A. Those where left to the Battloids to deal with.

"Eh?" Grimmjow said as he suddenly leaned forward, "I was just askin' what's the plan for meatloaf here." Grimmjow said as he jabbed a thumb at Ichigo.

"Meatloaf, I'm not a meatloaf!" Ichigo protested, Grimmjow sneered, "To them, zom, you are." Then he made a show of sniffing the air like a dog, "Oh is that meatloaf I smell? With artificial orange hair?"

Ichigo's expression stormed, "Excuse me? Artificial?"

Grimmjow grinned, "Yep, think I can't tell you dyed it? Ain't no one got that kind of hair with Asian descent."

Ichigo took a sip of his tea, "Oh really? Well, my hair's natural, you're just jealous 'cause you got fake hair."

Grimmjow growled, "This ain't..."

Ulquiorra sighed, "Grimmjow, your hair is artificial, no matter how you look at it... We all have artificial hair."

Grimmjow scowled and rubbed his fingers, true... But there was a time... They were all real and had just as much rights as...

* * *

"Can you breath without hinderance?"

Ulquiorra asked as Ichigo adjusted his oxygen mask with mild irritation. Grimmjow and Harribel were loading the jeep with supplies which mostly consisted of chlorine and bleach which was used to hide Ichigo scent and anyone else they meet along the way. Ichigo smiled which made Ulquiorra's eyes widen a fraction.

"Yeah, just the mask feels a bit weird."

Ulquiorra turned away in shock, "Yes... That cannot be helped... Ichigo." Ulquiorra added, his hand was over his where his heart should've been... He could feeling it racing... Why did this mean? Usually the only way he could feel his heart beating was when he was with his true body...

Ulquiorra's hand tightened into a fist, this was why he didn't want to leave his mortal body... After a long day of work... Of hacking and slashing... He began to feel like he was losing bits of himself... Day by day... He felt less... And more of the yearning emptiness in his chest, as if he had a hole over where he was suppose to have that beating mechanism.

Yet... When he was around the orange haired man, he felt as if he could feel that organ beating and inducing feelings he'd almost forgotten... No, he remembered them all... But they felt so faint... So wisp like that he sometimes wondered if he wept... Or was just an illusion that he was once a human, a being capable of feeling...

That was why he kept visiting his slumbering self, he had to remember... He had to feel his heart beating in sync...

Ichigo watched the impassive android look confused as he placed a hand over his chest, Ichigo jogged over, surprised that the battle suit was surprisingly light and flexible. Putting a hand on the robot's shoulder, Ichigo asked,

"Are you okay? You don't have to do this you know... We can get another Battloid to replace you..."

Ulquiorra's eyes widen, whirling to the surprised human,

"NO!"

He shouted to the surprise of all those around, Grimmjow dropped the crate he was holding in shock before cursing long and loudly when it fell on his foot. Harribel watched with bemused expression, suppressing a chuckle as she finished loading the trunk.

Ulquiorra's eyes widen as he clapped a hand over his mouth, what happened? How did he lose control? When did this become a voluntary action?

When that man...

Ichigo blinked in shock, what? What just happened?

Slowly yet reluctantly Ulquiorra lowered his hands and replied quietly and impassively, "There is no reason for me to be replaced, Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki, when I am well."

"But..." Ichigo opened his mouth only to be silenced by the much shorter man,

"I was merely scanning my systems... There is no reason to be alarmed, Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki." Ulquiorra said as he walked toward the dark green jeep, Ichigo blinked, well... That was no surprise that they'd be riding on a green colored jeep... 'Cause even though the rest of the Battloids deny it... Ulquiorra was clearly their unofficial leader.

"Wait... Hey! I said call me Ichigo! Hey Ulquiorra don't ignore me!" Ichigo hollered at the retreating Battloid, Ulquiorra turned to Ichigo with one foot in the jeep and one hand on the door.

"Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki, I am not ignoring you, I am simply not responding to your actions." He said calmly and as impassively as he could.

Ichigo grinned, "Hey, that's the same as ignoring me!"

"No, Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki."

Grimmjow laughed, this was the most human he'd ever seen Ulquiorra act... 'Cause... The man gotta be so stiff that he talks like a freakin' robot...

"Ahhhn... Come on, let's go already!" Grimmjow drawled as he jumped into the driver's seat. Harribel silently sat in the front seat with Grimmjow, she opened the GPS and began typing the coordinates of where the Spacers were last located. Ulquiorra and Ichigo sat in the back. Ichigo nervously put on his seat belt,

"What's that?" Ulquiorra asked when he saw the hilt by Ichigo's left side. Ichigo looked down and laughed weakly, "Ah it's my father's sword... It's called Zangetsu..."

Ulquiorra stared at the sword a moment longer, "Do you resent me?"

His quiet words stolen by the engine starting up, Grimmjow and Harribel didn't hear a word but Ichigo did...

Ichigo wanted to ask what he meant just to stall for time... But he knew it would go nowhere with the straightforward Battloid. Ichigo sighed and scratched his head, "... I don't think I resent you... Maybe in the beginning... But... It's strange... I know you were doing it to save me but why? Why help me?"

Ichigo ended in a soft voice and his eyes were full of confusion, leaving so many opening to pierce his heart. Was he simply a pawn in a game he wasn't aware of? Was he tangled up in the emerald eyed Battloid's fate? Most importantly, was he... Was he just an objective?

The last question pierced his heart painfully...

"I do not know why..." Ulquiorra said softly, he touched his chest, he did not know why he felt so drawn to the boy, now a man, with orange hair...

* * *

**Okay done! Thank you to all those who reviewed! It motivated me! Please review!**


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